1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing system, input apparatus, and information processing method for performing user authentication when processing information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Access control based on user authentication is carried out to prevent misuse of information processing apparatus such as printers, scanners, facsimile machines, and multifunction devices (e.g., copiers) that combine the functions of two or more of these types of apparatus. In conventional information processing apparatus, the information necessary for user authentication and access control is generally stored in the information processing apparatus, and user authentication and access control processing is generally carried out in the information processing apparatus itself. For one example, see paragraphs 0014-0017 and FIG. 1 in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H8-32801.
A problem is that there are many methods of user authentication, some requiring special devices such as smart card readers or biometric coprocessors, and different authentication protocols are in use, such as the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and Kerberos, to name just two. It is difficult to equip each piece of information processing apparatus to deal with the many authentication methods and protocols that it might be called on to employ.